Transcript d2inctq6psdv87.cloudfront.net

Blogging, Marketing & SEO
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The Benefits of Blogging
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Blog Software and Search-Friendliness
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Marketing & Corporate Communication
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Linking, Social Tagging & Viral Traffic
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Brand & Identity Building
How to Create a Successful Blog
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Selecting an Author & a Focus
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The Blog Launching Process
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Building a Passionate Audience
Examples of Successes & Pitfalls
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Disney's Imagineering Blog,
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The Stranger's “Slog”
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Fake Blogs (Mazda, McDonald's, Coke)
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Offending the Blogging Community
Our blog:
www.seomoz.org/blog.php
Benefits of Blogging
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Technorati – Growth of the Blogosphere
60X growth in 3 Years, doubles in size every 6 months
A personal voice
Direct feedback &
communication
Search engine
friendly publishing
medium
Targets tech-savvy
“connectors &
mavens”
Blog Software & Search Friendliness
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Use of Friendly URLs
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Easily Crawlable
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Keyword use in URLs, title
tags and Hx tags
Excellent “linkability”
Spread of anchor text and
content via RSS, blog
directories, etc.
Marketing & Corporate Communication
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Creates a human “voice” inside the company
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Builds brand loyalty and creates “buzz” around a product
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Attracts valuable online connectors, mavens & salespeople
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Lets passionate users connect to your company for feedback
and participation
Linking, Social Tagging & Viral Traffic
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SEOmoz blog traffic
May 11th - Digg home page
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“Just make a great site, with great content...
that's going to help you capture the mind of the
blogosphere and that's really the best way to let
search engines find out about you too."
- Matt Cutts in an Interview with Mike Grehan
Blogs are pre-disposed to
getting links from other
bloggers
Trackbacks, blog
directories & RSS feeds
all serve as link
mechanisms
Viral “memes” revolutionary ideas or
projects can attract tens of
thousands of links very
quickly (aka linkbait)
Brand & Identity Building
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Techcrunch – Unknown 18 months ago,
now one of the biggest “brands” in the
online tech sphere
Blogs allow for a relatively
unknown brand to build a
high profile online
Blogs can help to change
the image about a
company by creating a
forum where user voices
are heard
Brand identity can be
crafted and refined through
the perception of blog
readers and filtered for
offline audiences
How to Create a Successful Blog
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Yahoo!'s Jeremy Zawodny
A “real” voice inside the company
jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/
Find a passionate
blogger
Write in a “real” voice
– don't use “PR” or
“sales” speak
Approach topics that
are fun, informative,
vary in scope and
drive interest
The Blog Launching Process
DO
Start with comments off
Be self-effacing & honest
Launch with 3-6 posts
Link to competitors
Email friends, industry contacts
Build relationships through forums, other
blogs, communities and industry events
DON'T
Create fake comments
Leave excessive trackbacks
Bribe bloggers to link to you
Be overly defensive of your
product, service or company
Building a Passionate Audience
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Get creative in your blog posts – write about subjects that
readers care about
Don't be afraid to be negative or stir up controversy, better
to be loved and hated than simply mediocre
Recognize and call out your users – fame is intoxicating
Examples of Successes & Failures
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Disney's Imagineering Blog –
an incredible success
Real Disney designers,
speaking with passion and
without reservation
By siding with fans &
criticizing the company, the
team has re-created passion
around their projects
imagineerebirth.blogspot.com
“There was a severe power shift at Walt Disney Imagineering in the early-90s, which
completely changed the creative landscape. The best ideas no longer made it into the
parks, and WDI fell victim to the kind of personal politics and rampant cronyism that
is often associated with Hollywood studios,” reported SaveDisney.com in 2004.
“Many talented Imagineers were laid off or put out to pasture, while finance
executives were given the power to make creative decisions.”
Seattle's “The Stranger” Starts a Blog
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www.thestranger.com/slog/
Recognizing the threat
of an online cultural
voice, The Stranger
created “Slog”
Coverage includes
politics, pop culture,
Seattle events and more
Thousands of daily
readers and a massive
influence on Seattle
culture – music,
restaurants, politics, etc.
Pitfalls – The “Fake Blog”
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Fake Blog & “Viral” Video
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Fake “Lincoln Fry” Blog for Superbowl
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Fake blog on Coca-Cola “Zero”
Blogs require an honest,
real voice – these
companies failed the test
and turned off their readers
Bloggers are a savvy,
investigatory group – they
don't like to be
manipulated
The lesson – don't blog
unless you're prepared to
go “off script”
Beware Offending the Blog Community
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Bloggers are remarkably sensitive to manipulation, spam or
intrusion
Lawsuits against bloggers typically hurt brands, don't succeed
and create badwill (and bad SERPs)
Bloggers are loyal to one another and the communities /blogs
they read – piss off one blogger, and an entire community can
come after you.
More Information on SEO & Blogs
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Beginner's Guide to SEO
www.seomoz.org/beginners.php
Search Engine Ranking Factors
www.seomoz.org/articles/search-engine-factors.php
SEOmoz Daily Blog
www.seomoz.org/blog.php
Get in Touch with Rand Direct
email: [email protected]